The online community in which I participate inspires me in so many different ways. It’s one of the reasons I began my podcast in the first place! I have firm opinions on the purpose of branding, the purpose of marketing photographs, and how to nudge and cajole your business to the next level. And then I speak with a guest on my podcast who preaches the same things… until they offer a different perspective. World, rocked.
This morning, I ended up in a message exchange with a lovely person, Tramechiel. I don’t know her. We’re now FB friends so we can message easily, so hopefully I’ll get to know her. We came across each other through a question she asked about how to use 3 photos for 27 social media posts–an article that’s gotten a ton of play lately! After a few comments back and forth about the subject, it evolved into a discussion about the role feelings and emotions play in branding.
Feelings are the crux of a spectacular brand.
I’ll give you an example. Nature and aesthetics are an integral part of my life, so it’s no surprise that beauty is one of my core values.
That isn’t what my or your face looks like. It’s how the light plays on a leaf prancing in the wind. It’s a perfectly mixed cocktail sitting on the patio as you get home, the glass sweating just a bit. It’s the way someone’s eyebrow arches just slightly as they speak.
All of those things pull at your feelings.
So values can be disparate from emotions, sure. But they’re also so entwined.
My take? You can have a brand that doesn’t do much with feelings. But it’s going to be an uphill battle to attract clients, because there’s no pull. No magnetism.
Branding is who you are and what you stand for – and there are a LOT of feelings involved in those things! It all comes from a place of core values.
Tramechiel thinks of it differently. She said that what I call feelings, she interprets as right-brained thoughts.
I love this!
Not everyone resonates with me, and certainly not everyone resonates with my way of working. Our clashes could create a work and headspace that’s not conducive to progress. It’ll kill the trust they need to accomplish that progress.
This is what it means to have branding that both attracts and repels.
When you build your business around your values, it will not look like everyone else’s business. Sure, you need to put your message out in a way that attracts the best clients for you, but you also need to stay true to you.
If creating a brand with all the feels is not something you understand or agree with, there are others out there feeling the same way. Those are YOUR perfect clients! And in its own way, creating a brand that doesn’t pull at heart strings will be your version of creating a brand with all the feels. It’s just a very different set of “feelings” than my brand.
The key is keeping your values at the heart of your brand.
